Dispenser for diesel engine starting fluid



y 3, 1965 F. E. KAISER, JR 3,194,449

' DISPENSER FOR DIESEL ENGINE STARTING FLUID Filed June 8, 1962 /0 .50 Z N/ TROGEA/ II I Ill/[III I I II F/qJ INVENTO 64 Y 6 K /sae, 2.

United States Patent 3,11%,449 DISPENSER FOR DIESEL ENGINE STARTKNG F Um Fay E. Kaiser, Jr., Niles, Mich, assignor to United States Aviex Company, Niles, Mich, a co-partnership Filed June 8, 1962, Ser. No. 201,120 7 Claims. (Q1. 222-394) fl This invention relates to a dispenser for diesel starting uid.

The starting of diesel engines at extremely low temperatures requires the addition to the fuel of a highly volatile and easily ignitable material, such as ethyl ether. Thus it is common practice to sprayinto the air intake of a diesel engine a small quantity of ethyl ether, for example, from 7 grams to 25 grams. The engine is then turned over by the starting mechanism thereof, and this action draws the ethyl ether charged air into the engine cylinder along with a fuel charge. As the air-fuel mixture is compressed, the heat of compression increases sufiiciently 'to ignite the ether component of the air-fuel mixture. This ignition in turn ignites the diesel fuel component, and the engine is thereby started.

Present practice in eifectuating this method of starting a diesel engine is to' place the ethyl ether or other type of ether or other volatile material in an aerosol type dispenser in which a compressible and liquifiable gas is also contained to serve as a propellant. The gas employed as a propellant may be a gas of the type sold under the trademark Freon and consisting of a group of fluorochloro methanes and ethanes, or a propellant in the character of a mixture of butane or propane or other liquifiable gas with Freon. Another material useful as a propellant is sold under the trademark Genetron. and consists of a series of aliphatic fluoro and fluoro-chloro compounds. The compressible and liquifiable gases which have been used as a propellant heretofore as the examples above stated, are miscible with ether, so that they aredischarged with the ether.

Discharge of the propellant gas with the ethyl ether imposes a definite limit upon the usefulness of the ethyl ether at low temperatures for diesel engine starting purposes. One reason for this limitation or" usefulness is because the gas used as a propellant is by nature a noncombustible material which tends to smother flame and is of the character commonly used as a fire extinguisher. Thus the presence of any substantial. quantity of such a propellant gas in the engine cylinder counteracts the igniting properties of the ethyl ether for the engine starting purpose. Another reason for the limitation of usefulness of prior propellants is that, when in liquid state, such. gases will not gasify at temperatures in the lower range of desired diesel operation in Arctic and Antarctic Winter conditions. Thus the liquified gas will not gassify at temperatures below 65 deg. F. Operating requirements in the Arctic and Antarctic, sometimes necessitate starting of a diesel engine at temperatures below 65 deg. F.

It is the primary object of this invention to provide a dispenser of the aerosol type containing a highly volatile engine starting fluid and a propellant which is not miscible with the starting fluid and which will retain itsproperties as a propellant at very low temperatures, that is, at any temperature known to be encountered in nature on earth.

A further object is to provide a dispenser for starting fluid which is of the aerosol type and which is charged with a gas not miscible with the starting fluid at such pressure that it is capable of expelling the starting fluid from the container until all of the starting fluid has been discharged under all conditions of ambient temperature likely to be encountered in Arctic and Antarctic regions.

3,l4,449 Patented July 13, 1%65 A further object is to provide a dispenser of the aerosol type containing a starting fluid and a propellant consisting of compressed nitrogen.

Other objects will be apparent from the following specification.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is an axial sectional View of a dispenser embodying the invention with the valve thereof closed;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary axial sectional view illustrating the control valve in open position.

Referring to the drawing which illustrates one embodiment of the invention, the numeral 10 designates a container of the aerosol type which is preferably formed of metal and which has a tubular body 12, a bottom member 14, and a reduced neck 16. Within the neck is mounted a valve carrier, here shown in the nature of a hollow plug portion 18 fitting within the neck16 and having an enlarged upper portion 20, and a central tubular inner wall 22. Within the tubular wall 22 is mounted a valve housing 24 anchored'at its upper end and projecting below the plug 18 within the container 10 and preferably being characterized by a reduced lower end portion 26. An annular gasket 28 is mounted in the upper part of the plug adjacent the upper end of the valve casing 24, and the parts are preferably held in assembled relation by crimping the tubular wall 22 at 23 to underlie an outturned flange 25 of the valve casing 24, which in turn underlies the margin of the gasket 28. A long tube 3i) is suitably secured to the lower end 26 of the valve casing 24, being open at both ends and terminating slightly spaced above the level of the bottom 14 of the container.

A valve button or head 32 is provided with a reduced dimension tubular neck portion 34 which passes with clearance through a central opening in the top of the plug member 29 and snugly through the gasket 28. Head 32 mounts at its inner end within the valve housing 24 a valve member 36 which is characterized by a continuous upper annular edge portion 38 normally urged into sealing engagement with the gasket 28 by a coil spring 50. The valve member 38 has a central socket receiving the lower end of tubular part 34 and the latter is slotted at 42 at and above the level of the top edge of the valve 36 so that when the button 32 is depressed, as illustrated in FIG. 2, so as to disengage the upper edge portion 38 of the valve from the gasket 28, communication is established between the interior of the valve chamber 24, the parts communicating therewith, and the passage 44 of the stem 34 and the head 32. The head 32 has a laterally extending passage 46 communicating with the bore 44 and outlined in part at its outer end by a member 48 having a reduced passage to define a spray jet opening. The valve member 36 fits with clearance in the valve housing 24 and is normally urged to a seated position against the gasket 28 above tapered part 40 of chamber 24 by means of a coil spring 50.

The construction shown is understood to be illustrative of a conventional aerosol container with a normally closed valve controlling a jet spray outlet and subject to opening of the valve by depression of the'button or head 32. j A

The present invention involves the filling, to a selected level, of the container 12 with a substantially pure ethyl ether C H OC H and then the introduction of nitrogen under pressure adequate to act as a propellant for discharging the charge of ethyl ether from the container when the valve 36 is opened; The nitrogen is charged under pressure in the range up to approximately psi. at 70 F. Nitrogen is characterized by inertness so that it will not mix with the ether and it liquifies at 177 deg. P. so that it retains its gaseous character above that temperature. Consequently, the nitrogen chargeretains its properties to act as a propellant for the ether at temperatures below any known to occur naturally on earth.

One specific example of a dispenser for starting fluid embodying my invention is as follows. An aerosol container of 12 ounce size is first charged with approximately nine ounces of ethyl ether. A charge of nitrogen is introduced into the container at a pressure of approximately 115 p.s.i. gauge pressure at +70 deg. F. A dispenser so charged is eiteotive to discharge the entire ethyl ether content of the container at a temperature of -70 deg. F. During such discharge of the contents of the container, the pressure charge reduces to about 12 p.s.i. gauge pressure at the temperature of 70 deg. F. In other words, a charge of nitrogen at 115 p.s.i. gauge pressure at +70 deg. F. is sufficient to insure discharge of the entire ethyl ether content of the container at extremely low temperature. If temperatures below -70 deg. F. are to be encountered, the charge of nitrogen may be introduced at a gauge pressure exceeding 115 p.s.i. at +70 deg. F., and up to 185 p.s.i. at +70 deg. F. Likewise, if the dispenser is not to be subjected to temperatures as low as --70 deg. F., the charge of nitrogen may be reduced below 115 p.s.i. at +70 deg. F.

Another factor controlling the pressure of the nitrogen propellant is the extent to which the ethyl ether fills the container. Thus a 12 oz. container with only 8 oz. of ethyl ether will discharge satisfactorily at -70 deg. F. if the nitrogen is under a pressure of 110 p.s.i. gauge pressure at +70 deg. F. or less, while the same container with 10 oz. of ethyl ether should be charged with nitrogen at 125 p.s.i. gauge pressure at +70 deg. F. or more. For purposes of economy, a given container is preferably provided with ethyl ether at from 60% to 80% of its capacity and the nitrogen propellant is preferably under a pressure of from 90 p.s.i. to 150 p.s.i. gauge pressure at +70 deg. F. or more, depending upon the minimum operating temperature to be encountered.

Because of the fact that the nitrogen does not mix with the ethyl ether, only the ethyl ether is discharged when the dispenser valve is open. This insures that no retardant to combustion will enter the combustion chamber of a diesel engine along with the ethyl ether. This maintains the effectiveness of the ethyl ether for starting of an engine at a high level so that starting of an engine at temperatures at --70 deg. F. and lower can be accomplished by the use of this invention to introduce starting fluid into the engine. This compares with limitations of the temperatures at which prior dispensers of starting fluid will function. Thus prior devices charged with Freon or other propellants heretofore used in the art will not function to start a diesel engine at temperatures lower than 65 deg. F. Temperatures below 65 deg. F. are encountered from time to time in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Thus the present invention makes possible the starting of diesel engines under all adverse conditions encountered in extremely cold weather and under conditions in which previous dispensers could not operate.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be understood that changes in the construction may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A dispenser for diesel starting fluid comprising a container having an outlet,

a normally closed jet discharge valve controlling said outlet,

a charge of ethyl ether starting fluid partially filling said container, and

nitrogen in said container under a pressure sufficient to expel all of said starting fluid through said valve controlled outlet at temperatures below 65 F. without mixture of said nitrogen with said fluid.

2. A dispenser for diesel starting fluid comprising a container having an outlet,

a normally closed jet discharge valve controlling said outlet,

a charge of ethyl ether in said container from 60% to of the capacity of the container, and nitrogen in said container compressed in the range from p.s.i. to 185 psi. at +70 F.

3. In an aerosol type container partially filled with ethyl ether for use as a starting fluid for engines in cold climates,

the improvement comprising the use of compressed nitrogen under pressure in excess of p.s.i. at +70 F. in said container to serve as a propellant for discharging said fluid without admixture of said ether and propellant.

4. In an aerosol type container partially filled with ethyl ether for use as a starting fluid for engines in cold climates,

the improvement comprising the use of a propellant in said container consisting of a gas which is not miscible with ethyl ether and which is compressed sufliciently to expel the entire ethyl ether content from said container under pressure at temperatures below -65 F.

5. In an aerosol type container partially filled with ethyl ether for use as a starting fluid for engines in cold "climates,

the improvement comprising the use of a propellant in said container consisting of nitrogen compressed to a pressure in the range from 90 p.s.i. to 185 p.s.i. at +70 F. 6 An aerosol dispenser for diesel starting fluid comprising an aerosol type container having a normally closed spray type outlet valve, a charge of ethyl ether filling substantially threefourths of the volume of said container, and nitrogen in said container at a pressure of from p.s.i. to p.s.i. gauge pressure at +70 F. to serve as a propellant for discharging said ether without admixture of said ether and nitrogen. 7. An aerosol dispenser for diesel starting fluid comprising an aerosol type container having a normally closed spray type outlet valve, a charge of ethyl ether filling substantially threefourths of the volume of said container, and gas in said container compressed in the range from 100 p.s.i. to p.s.i. gauge pressure at +70 F. said gas being of a type which is not miscible with ethyl ether and which has a liquification point below l20 F.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,070,167 2/37 Iddings. 2,708,922 5/55 Neely 44-52 2,723,200 11/55 Pyenson 99-171 2,815,899 12/57 Stetzet al.

2,948,595 8/60 Orr 250-305 X 3,072,487 1/63 Webster 252305 X FOREIGN PATENTS 366,626 2/32 Great Britain.

OTHER REFERENCES Comey: A Dictionary of Chemical Solubilities, Inorganic, published by MacMillan Co., 1896, pages 78, 266 and 268.

Pressurized Packaging (Aerosols), pages 74-76, published Butterworth Scientific Publications, 1958.

Modern Packaging, February 1961, page 123, lines l7-20.

Modern Packaging, page 122, second full paragraph, beginning, Foodstuffs, February 1961.

RAPHAEL M. LUPO, Primary Examiner. 

1. A DISPENSER FOR DIESEL STARTING FLUID COMPRISING A CONTAINER HAVING AN OUTLET, A NORMALLY CLOSED JET DISCHARGE VALVE CONTROLLING SAID OUTLET, A CHARGE OF ETHYL ETHER STARTING FLUID PARTIALLY FILLING SAID CONTAINER, AND 